As pump prices rise, traffic deaths fall, study suggests

U.S. researchers suggest higher prices at the pump could prevent more than 1,000 traffic accidents every month, as cost-conscious drivers slow down or stayoff the roadsin a bid to save cash.

Researchers Michael Morrisey of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and David Grabowski of Harvard Medical School compared traffic deaths and gas price fluctuations between 1985 and 2006.

The researchers suggest that if gas prices in the U.S. continue to hover or rise above current $4 per gallon rates for a year, traffic deaths would fall significantly.

"It is remarkable to think that a per cent change in gas prices can equal lives saved, which is what our data show," Morrisey said in a release issued Thursday.

"For every 10 per cent rise in gas prices, fatalities are reduced by 2.3 per cent."

According to Transport Canada, there were 2,923 traffic deaths across the country in 2005.

The findings of the research were presented at a conference in June.